Juang Rung-je’s photo exhibit of human flesh as canvas
肉身當畫布 莊榮哲深刻紋人畫

Butterfly is part of Juang Rung-je’s photography series of human flesh as canvas.莊榮哲絞人畫系列作品「蝴蝶」。

Photo courtesy of the Fotoaura Institute of Photography照片由海馬迴光畫館提供

In an attempt to challenge how people view art and their aesthetic thought process, the Fotoaura Institute of Photography began displaying a series of photographs entitled “Re-engrave: Rung-Je Juang Exhibition” on Dec. 31 last year.

Although the theme of the exhibit — human flesh as canvas with blood replacing ink — looks like tattoo art, the methods used and the significance of the artistic expression is not the same as it is in tattoo form. After the work is completed, the only memorable scar left behind is the one the camera captures. The actual wound scabs over and heals until the skin eventually returns to its original form.

Juang Rung-je, a student in the Graduate Institute of Plastic Arts at Tainan National University of the Arts, was pondering the possibilities of using the body for works of art. Using a tattoo-style method, he transforms the inner wound to express the layered traces of repetitive wounds over time. Juang shows us a flesh totem, starting with the body’s original wound, which gradually forms scabs. At first glance, it actually looks like flowers depicted in classical art. Using the logic of transforming textures, his work continuously challenges people’s value systems. The exhibit will be running until Feb. 5 in Tainan.